Lost Wings and Closed Eyes
by EricaLumiere
Summary: One happy day for Jim and Selena.
1. Chapter One

Post-movie.

* * *

Sunshine peeked through the thin curtains, landed gently on the face of a young man, still fast asleep. The covers were up to his thin shoulders, his hair was rumpled, and his pillow lay on the floor; he never could stay still while he slept. His pillow always ended up alone. 

He rolled over to one side, stretched his arm out across the small bed, found emptiness. Slowly, his eyes opened as he awoke, his dreams fading fast.

"'Lena?" he mumbled, his eyes quickly searching the room.

When he received no answer, he shoved the blankets away and sat up on the worn mattress, stretched his arms and stood, one hand rubbing his lower back. Sleeping all snuggled up to another person every night was going to take some getting used to. He still felt new at this.

Nevertheless, he'd had a good sleep. He never could complain about how nice it was to hold someone in his arms, in dreamland and wake. Plus, Selena didn't kick him as often as she did for a while, and he loved waking up to sunshine. Today seemed like it was going to be a good day.

Shuffling out of the room, he headed down the narrow hallway to the kitchen, where a young blonde girl sat at the table, slowly and intently eating a bowl of something very cereal-like.

"Morning, Hannah," the man greeted her, ruffling her neat hair as he passed.

She smiled up at him, one hand smoothing her hair back down. "Good morning, Jim." She was always such a polite young girl. There was a sparkle in her eyes that only came since they'd found refuge in the country; the horror of the previous time was slowly leaving her.

Jim walked past the table and leaned on the counter. "Have you been up long?"

"Not this time," she smirked.

Jim smiled. Hannah had had diffuculties staying asleep oftimes, and would wake up early as sin, but go to bed whenever she felt she needed sleep. She claimed it was part of being a teenager, but Selena said otherwise. But she was slowly adjusting and was falling into a more-normal sleeping pattern.

"Selena's out for a walk," she added.

Now it was Jim's turn to smirk. He never had to ask – Hannah always knew what he wanted to know, especially if it was about Selena.

"Thanks, kid," Jim leaned over and mussed up Hannah's hair again, then rummaged through boxes for breakfast.

"I'm back!" a voice sang from down the corridor, followed by the sound of a door closing. As if Jim couldn't tell by that scent she always seemed to carry; something like flowers and happiness.

"We're in the kitchen!" Hannah called out, turning to smile at the woman as she entered. Her breakfast finished, she stood and took her empty bowl to the counter. She began to rearrange cans and boxes on the counter.

Everyone greeted one another, vaguely reminiscent of some sitcom family, smiling and cheerful even when the chips are down. Selena took off her jacket, exchanged kisses with Jim.

"Mm," Jim smiled, caught her lips again before she could pull her face away, touched her short hair. "How was your walk?"

Selena shrugged, smiled. "Uneventful." She watched Hannah.

"Good," Jim nodded slowly, thinking, his breakfast forgotten. There were, of course, still things to worry about. They had no idea how far their attackers could go.

There was a pause; the only sound was cans being shoved around on the counter.

"Shit," Hannah cursed quietly as she broke the silence when she suddenly dropped a can and it rolled off the counter, landing on the floor with a thud.

"Watch your mouth," Selena told her, but casually, more like a sister than a parent.

Hannah shrugged, her back to the two, picked up the can, and placed it where it belonged in her line-up. "I think I'm going to go for a walk. I won't go far, don't worry."

"Sure," Selena smiled as the girl headed for the door. "It's chilly. Wear a coat."

Hannah rolled her eyes, but a smile hinted at her lips. "Can I borrow yours?"

"Of course," Selena pulled it off the chair and passed it to the girl, who smiled, put in on, and left the cottage.

A minute passed and Jim stood, his chair scraping against the floor. He took his half-empty bowl to the counter and set it down. He could clean his dishes later.

"Jim? Is something wrong?" Selena asked, half-turned around in her chair, her chin propped up on one hand, elbow resting on the table.

Jim turned around to face her, leaned against the counter. "Not wrong, just… I was thinking."

Selena half-smiled. "Don't hurt yourself, love."

"Jag off, you," he warned, but returned the small smile. "I was thinking I've fallen…"

"Fallen?"

"Yea…" A gentle smile crept onto his face. "For you."

Selena tried to conceal her own smile. She wasn't as tough as she liked to act, not when it came to Jim, anyway. "You think so?" She stood, smiling so innocently and happily that Jim couldn't do anything but file this moment away in the back of his mind; something he always wanted to remember. If only she'd been naked, he could masterbate to this thought later, but it would almost feel sinful then; she looked like an angel right now.

He nodded. "I really do."

Although still very emotionally cold at times, Selena was beginning to loosen up and calm down. Jim noticed this every time he put his arms around her; she was quicker to return the hug, and held on longer each time.

Selena threw her arms around him, her head resting on his shoulder. He swear he could feel her beam.

Jim was taken by surprise; in the three and a half weeks they'd been here, she'd never been the one to start a hug or a kiss. She'd been through too much, was scared she was just going to lose him, too. Sure, she had no problem cuddling up to him at night as they slept, but anything other than being close mostly for body heat was different. But this pleased him – that she was returning his feelings – and he wrapped his arms around her, kissed the top of her head.

"I think… I've fallen for you, too," she admitted whisperingly, running one hand down the length of his arm and intertwining her fingers in his. She sounded shy as a schoolgirl.

Jim grinned. Suddenly, he moved his other arm around his waist and pushed her past the table, out the kitchen and into the living room. "Dance with me."

Selena let out a soft laugh. "Of course." She kissed his neck and they swayed back and forth, Jim humming a quiet tune all the while.


	2. Chapter Two

The sun had crept a couple inches across the floor, spreading it's light throughout their current home. It came in behind them and warmed the floor they rested on. Jim was leaning upright against the wall, Selena beside him, his arms around her and her arms on him; peaceful. Selena's eyes were closed, her head rested on Jim's chest, and he ran a hand through her short hair, wondering how she managed to make it stay up like that. 

"'Lena?"

"Yea?"

"When… When we get rescued," Jim made sure to stay positive; he didn't want anything to ruin their fabulous mood. "Will you stay with me?"

Selena ran her fingers over the collar of his shirt. "Of course I will."

Smiling, he kissed her forehead. Today was definitely a good day.

"Oy?" The door slammed shut and Jim and Selena were startled out of their haze. "Where'd you go?" Hannah sang out.

"In here," Selena replied, getting to her feet, and offering Jim her hands, pulled him up.

Hannah poked her head in the door. "Sleeping on the floor? And you thought I was off," she headed into the room that she'd claimed.

Selena waved a hand in the girl's direction. Turning her attention to Jim, she waited for him to rub his eyes, then kissed him. "You hungry?"

He smiled slyly, then quickly looked behind her to see that Hannah wasn't in sight; he grabbed Selena around the waist, pulled her close, then caught her in the longest and most passionate kiss she could remember.

Finally, Jim pulled away. "Only for you," he teased, winking mischeviously.

"Oh, bugger!" Selena tried escaping from his grasp, but he was holding her tightly around the waist and she couldn't unclasp his hands from where they were. "You mind, love?"

"Not at all," he smiled, but didn't release her.

She sighed, feigning impatience. She glanced at her wrist as if she had a watch.

He kissed her cheek and let her go. As she turned away, he grabbed her once more, this time by the shoulders. "Oh, wait."

"What now?"

"It's just…" Jim looked thoughtful for a moment as he felt her shoulders, ran his hands over her upper back. "Oh, they're shoulder blades…"

"Yea… What did you think they were?" Selena asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.

Jim smiled softly. "Wings."

* * *

Shortly, the three survivors sat around their temporary kitchen table, eating canned beans and noodles, forks scraping on plates; Jim ate silently, watching Selena as she and Hannah discussed books or movies or telephones or whatever it was they were talking about. Jim wasn't much paying attention to that. He was more occupied with watching how her lips moved when she spoke, how beautiful her smile was, how her voice was really so quiet when she wasn't screaming at someone to run from zombies. He was watching how she managed to seem so graceful while eating month-old, tinned vegetables in a post-world setting, how she seemed so innocent when she laughed; her eyes closed and a soft laugh came gently to the ears of those nearby.

Jim wondered what had happened to this stunning creature to make her able to kill other people and be so cold to those she didn't. He wondered if the coldness and hatred would stay with her much longer. He wondered if she really did love him. He wondered… What would it be like to be with her – forever?

"Jim?"

He blinked, looked up. "Oy?"

"Are you done?" Selena stood, holding her and Hannah's plates in one hand, the other extended out for his.

He glanced down. He could eat and wonder at the same time. Three cheers for for multi-tasking. "Oh… Sure," he handed the plate over, then leaned back, his head against the wall, and continued watching the woman of his dreams.

He was so lost in though that he didn't hear Hannah muttering to Selena about how he was "so spacey lately," or that he was "so quiet and distant… Is something wrong? I mean, besides… the obvious."

But, no, as Hannah would come to find out eventually, nothing was wrong with Jim. He was just head-over-heels, completely and absolutely – in a completely non-stalker-esque fashion – infatuated with Selena.


	3. Chapter Three

After dinner, they all sat around the sitting room – what was it for, after all? – and took turns reading out loud, by candlelight if necessary. Some nights, they just shared stories or thoughts, getting into friendly debates. Jim and Selena usually shared the couch, and Hannah generally chose the armchair, curling her legs under her, never minding the dust that had settled on the massively overstuffed thing. 

They'd found quite a few books in one of the rooms of the cottage, and sure, some were old and boring as hell, but it was better than nothing. Not to mention that Selena demanded that Hannah continue some form of education; during the day, she tried to remember old school lessons and share them with the girl, so her mind wouldn't get soft.

Hannah interrupted Jim with a yawn. She'd been looking sleepy for a while, but tried to stay interested in the story. "Sorry, but I'm gonna go to bed… Good night."

Selena stood and gave the girl a hug before she left the room, then sat back down beside Jim, who tossed the book on the table beside the couch. He blew out one of the candles; no sense in wasting them.

"That girl sleeps so much, it's insane," he commented. He wondered if it was the Shakespeare that bored her.

"She doesn't sleep much at night," Selena replied quietly.

"I thought she was getting better…"

"She is, but... She's usually awake… I sit up with her some nights."

Jim was completely unaware of that. He always thought that if Selena left the bed, it would surely wake him up. He was upset that she could leave him and he wouldn;t notice; he'd had dreams where she left the bed, but he blew them off as dreams. He certainly didn't want that to happen when he was awake.

He leaned over and wrapped his arms around her, the day's fashion, pulled her over to him; she was leaning sideways on him, heads resting on shoulders on heads. Jim never wanted to let go.

"Do you wanna go to bed, too?"

Jim nodded silently.

Selena hid a smile. He didn't know how much she loved his random boyish shyness.

She stood, took his hand and they walked to their room, the master bedroom. It felt right, as they tried playing the role of the parents. Hannah's room was across the hall, and hardly any smaller. They kicked off their shoes – they wore them inside because the bare floors were cold – and climbed into bed, pulled the covers up. For once, Jim lay on his side, and Selena on her back, and he rested his head on her shoulder, his hand settling on her stomach, under her shirt. He pondered about babies.

He kissed her lips once, then her shoulder. "There might not be any wings, but…"

Selena sighed contentedly. Her eyes were full of tears but she made no move to wipe them away. She put an arm under his neck so she could run her fingers through his short hair.

"Love you, 'Lena."

She smiled, closed her eyes; happy tears fell down her cheeks. "Love you, James."


End file.
